Pie Road Trip 2016

Pie #4-7

It was an epic Saturday! I live in the beautiful state of Utah and surprisingly, we have some amazingly delicious pies. My incredible husband suggested we go on a pie road trip to the some small towns to try out the highly recommended options. It was well worth the trip.

We started out at 7am and headed south. Our first stop was Bicknell, Utah, about 3 hours from Salt Lake City and not far from the entrance into Capitol Reef National Park. Bicknell has a famous restaurant called the Sunglow Cafe. They are famous for their unusual pie selections which include Pickle Pie and Pinto Bean Pie. After having breakfast, we chose the pie sampler. It included the pickle pie, the pinto bean pie, the buttermilk pie, and the delicious oatmeal pie. They were all good but the oatmeal pie was my favorite. It tasted just like an oatmeal cookie. 

The other pies are worth it! So delicious! I recommend everyone get a taste of the famous pies at the Sunglow Cafe. You won't be disappointed.  

Three years later...

It's been over 3 years since I met Zane and went on our epic first date. We had an unknown road ahead for us but I think we have done a pretty good job. Look at these kids...they love and support each other in a way that has surprised me. Blending families is difficult but we have been truly blessed with amazing kids. We have graduated 3 from high school, we are sending one off on an LDS mission and sending another on a humanitarian trip to Kenya.  We have 5 drivers, high insurance rates, a new bicycle rider, lots of first dates, concerts, plays, a 2500-mile family road-trip in a 15-passenger van, senior trips to Palmyra and Boston, and countless other experiences with this family of ours. It has been an awesome 3 years and I'm excited to see what other adventures are ahead for us. 

Pie with purpose...

Pie #3-

This triple-berry pie made my list for this year. It was really good but the best part about it was the purpose behind it. I purchased it through an online auction for one of my old mission companions. She has twin girls just two weeks older than Jalyn. We lived in Texas at the same time when our girls were born and I have watched them grow up through pictures and sporadic play dates. Her girls are in need of some neurological testing and they had a bake sale to help raise funds. I wish I could have contributed more but any pie with that kind of story will make my list and it makes the pie even more delicious. 

I like pie.

I like pie! I mean, I REALLY like pie. I even have a shirt that says "I like pie." That's how much I like it. I love to celebrate Pie Day. I'm not talking about Pi day. I don't like Pi and I don't want to celebrate that day. National Pie Day is January 23. 1/23. It's as easy as 1,2,3...get it? Easy as pie.

The year I turned 40, I decided to try out 40 different pies before I turned 40. It was such a fun experience. It took me all over the United States. I had pie in Missouri, California, Pennsylvania, and Utah. My absolute favorite from that experience was Shoo-fly pie from the Amish Country in Pennsylvania. Amazing pie. I recommend it to everyone.

Yesterday, I turned 44. Not a big milestone but, in one year I will be 45! That is a HUGE milestone to me. That means if I live to be 90, I will be half-way there. Or if I live to 80, I'm already over half-way. It gave me pause to reflect and I decided it was time to get serious about life. I'm ready to try new pie!

So, here I start again. 45 different pies before I turn 45.

Zane and I were in New Orleans over the weekend to celebrate my birthday and I kicked off my new quest. It is going to be difficult to top because this was AMAZING pie. We went to Emeril's and tried his original and famous banana cream pie...oh...my...goodness...it was heaven! I couldn't resist waiting for that first bite and I apologize to our server for stabbing him with my fork. Seriously, how long does it really take to put a plate of pie on the table? He was taking forever! It was worth the wait...and the injury to the waiter. DEE-VINE!!

Pie #1 (Banana Cream pie- Emeril's New Orleans)

The next day we took a trek out to the Oak Alley Plantation about 1 hour west of New Orleans. We had lunch in their cute restaurant (I recommend the Gumbo). For dessert, they brought out a delicious piece of Buttermilk pie. Oh...the memories of cutting into that crusty cinnamon topping and savoring the creamy, delicious flavor. I ate this one too fast to get a picture but it definitely made my list.

Pie #2 (Buttermilk Pie- Oak Alley Plantation, New Orleans)

So two down, 43 to go. I am up for recommendations and I will travel for pie. My only rule: I don't count Marie Callendar's pies. Not because they aren't delicious but I could easily knock out most my list in one sitting. I am looking for the local, unique, award-winning pies of the country. Send your recommendations my way...

Next year...I'll join a gym. :)

Meeting his kids...

I got to meet the little one first. Zane came to my work to take me to lunch and he had his littlest with him. She was 3 at the time, about to turn 4. What a cutie! However, I just kept thinking, "My youngest is almost 11!! I am past this little kid stage. Could I go back? Do I WANT to go back?" It was something to think about and consider as Zane and I continued to get to know each other.

We went to the Chic-Fil-A in the mall so that she would get her chicken nuggets. She was super cute and even reached over to hold my hand while we walked to our table. We sat and visited and when Zane asked her a usual question, he got an unusual answer. He asked, "Who's my princess?" Expecting the usual answer of "I am!", he instead got a finger pointed at ME. I was feeling like Zane's princess but what an intuitive moment by a toddler to figure it out.

She hooked me. I really liked her. I knew there were still more kids to meet and hurdles to jump but my fear of little kids was dissipating. We could do this!

Service in Jail...

I remember an experience on my mission where we were visiting with a woman who had lost a child to SIDS. She was mourning and depressed and was having a very difficult time finding a reason to get up every morning. I remember thinking that I had never experienced death of a close relative or friend in my life up to that point. I wondered how I would react. Would I be depressed? Could I function? Would I be sad but comforted because I had a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation? It made me wonder who I really was deep inside. What are my core beliefs? What was my foundation? I could speculate all I wanted but until a situation came my way, I wouldn't be tested.

Zane has shared some feelings he had when he was in jail. The one thing that stood out to me was his reaction to it all. I'm sure there are many people in the same situation who would ball up in the fetal position and lament the entire situation. Others might get mad and build up resentment and ill feelings the entire stay. Zane did neither of those. I am sure he had moments of those feelings. He wouldn't be human if he didn't. However, the thing that impressed me was that he made the most he could of the situation. He got out of himself and instead, served those around him. He helped inmates study for the GED, he committed acts of service, and generally, he kept a positive attitude in the situation. He became friends with some of his fellow inmates. Relationships that I have seen continue today and many of them thank Zane for his influence and example in jail. Zane is such a good guy and has such a love for those in his life. I am truly grateful for his example in my life.

I came across this quote from "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl and, although Utah County Jail cannot compare to a concentration camp, it reminded me that we all have a choice. How are we going to react to our trials? What is our foundation? In moments of trial and stress, it will manifest itself. Zane chose a positive path and, in so doing, made that year in jail meaningful and purposeful. What a great example.

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

And there were always choices to make.

Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you would become the plaything of circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity to become molded into the form of the typical inmate.

Seen from this point of view, the mental reactions of the inmates of a concentration camp must seem more to us than the mere expression of certain physical and sociological conditions. Even though conditions such as lack of sleep, insufficient food and various mental stresses may suggest that the inmates were bound to react in certain ways, in the final analysis it becomes clear that the sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision, and not the result of camp influences alone. Fundamentally, therefore, any man can, even under such circumstances, decide what shall become of him--mentally and spiritually. He may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp. Dostoevski said once, 'There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings.' These words frequently came to my mind after I became acquainted with those martyrs whose behavior in camp, whose suffering and death, bore witness to the fact that the last inner freedom cannot be lost. It can be said that they were worthy of their sufferings; the way they bore their suffering was a genuine inner achievement. It is this spiritual freedom--which cannot be taken away--that makes life meaningful and purposeful."

The morning after the best first-date weekend...

This was delivered to me at work on Monday morning. I was a bit tired after staying up all-night Saturday night and not getting to bed early on Sunday night. Best follow-up delivery...